'Made in China' gets a new gloss
By Benjamin A Shobert
We have become so desensitized to defective products originating in China that
this week's announcement from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission about
finding dangerous levels of cadmium in children's toys seemed oddly expected
and has thus far ruffled few feathers.
Yet, while this particular issue may not be significant enough to upend the
trade relationship between the US and China, or of such severity that it is
likely to be the cause of a whole new set of import restrictions, it does add
more weight to an increasing
wariness and frustration with Chinese-made products on the part of American
consumers.
The cumulative effect of these quality problems has the potential not only to
impact the export-sensitive economy of China, but to create a systemic problem
for what it means to have products of any variety sourced in China, an issue
that could cause problems for an untold number of American and European
consumer-product companies, as well as the retailers they serve.
In a series of television ads that started late last year with limited runs on
CNN Asia, and now spreading to various media outlets around the world, Beijing
seems to have acknowledged these fears, with a new ad program defending what it
means to be "Made in China". The new ads go by the tag line "Made in China,
Made with the World".
The advertisements are sponsored primarily by the Ministry of Commerce, in
conjunction with four Chinese trade groups, and are developed by DDB
Guoan-Beijing. Through them, the Chinese government appears to be acknowledging
that the China brand is suffering from these repeated product quality problems
and may need a global media campaign to prevent further damage.
Global marketing on the part of a country in the face of such a mounting set of
negative publicity is extremely rare. The ads themselves have been in the works
for some time, but the launch of the campaign appears with stories of tainted
milk still lingering in people's memories.
Should further quality problems present themselves in other industries, the
country could well face a collective and insurmountable disgust at what it
means to have products sourced in China, with customers of Chinese
manufacturers choosing to pay higher prices in order to avoid the "Made in
China". Unlikely though such a scenario might seem, the very presence of the
ads seems to reinforce the concern that the potential consequences could be
severe. The net effect of a shifting tide of popular opinion could be more
devastating than all but the most onerous of trade wars.
The TV ad begins by showing runners on their way through a park, and as one
runner ties his shoe, the tongue of his running shoe can be seen bearing a
label that reads: "Made in China with American Sports Technology". A home of
distinctly European taste is the ad's next scene, with a refrigerator whose
interior label states: "Made in China with European Styling". Teenagers
listening to music at a bus stop are next up, shown holding an MP3 player that
bears the imprint "Made in China with Software from Silicon Valley".
The flash from a photographer is the next to last, as clothing models have
their pictures taken, with a peak of the inside label from one garment showing
"Made in China with French Designers". And last, a businessman on an airplane
looks out of his window to see a jet engine bearing the black lettering "Made
in China with Engineers from around the World". The ad's primary slogan, "When
it says Made in China, it really means 'Made in China, Made with the World'",
ends the 30-second piece.
The products in question are interesting choices, ranging from the lowest
technology (garment manufacturing) to the most popular of consumer products
(the MP3 player, as shown in the spot a model curiously reminiscent of the iPod
Nano), to one of the highest technology products that touches the average
consumer's life, an airplane engine.
This part of the ad works both for the benefit of the China brand as well as to
its detriment: undoubtedly the ad's designers hoped that by showing the breadth
of products made in China, consumers would be reminded of how infrequently they
encounter problems. At the same time, the ad may provoke an uncomfortable
realization on the part of the consumer that they have no grasp of where the
next quality problem from China could present itself. As the ad illustrates,
given the sheer number and variety of products made in China, shielding
yourself against Chinese-made products is all but impossible.
While the production value of the advertisement is not fully to Western
standards, it is on the whole not poor; the overall effect on the part of the
viewer is mixed. The ability to think strategically enough to understand the
role such a global ad campaign needs to play in calming fears about what the
"China" brand means suggests a responsive and somewhat sophisticated
government. To be able to put out a coordinated program, strategically designed
to talk to some of the most influential TV watchers, is well thought out. On
the other hand, the ad has a twinge of what comes across almost as an
inferiority complex, the entirety of the "China" brand reduced to that of being
a passive manufacturer of the world's products.
It is a curious combination that may not create the desired effect, and it is
an admission on the part of China that its role in the global economy is not
that of creator or innovator, but as that of a factory. At its best, this ad
seems to suggest that China wishes to remind the world of what it does well, in
an extremely wide range of products. At the same time, it provokes the watcher
to recall the interconnectedness between country's production capacity and
global business. At its worst, the ad reinforces the idea of China as only a
factory, capable of low-cost production and little else.
In a week that has seen one of America's technology leaders, Google, stand up
to the Chinese government with a threat to withdraw from the country if the
company cannot run an uncensored search site there, it is useful to reflect on
whether we may have overstated the position of dominance enjoyed by Beijing.
The "Made in China, Made with the World" ad campaign is not a move born of
strength; rather it is an admission that the "China" brand currently carries
many weaknesses and is still quite vulnerable. The fact that much of the
developed world is questioning its own economic models further complicates a
balanced diagnosis on China's real versus perceived strengths. Among the
implicit admissions made in this ad by the Chinese government itself is that
China needs the world as much as the world needs China, a reminder which again
communicates strength, mutual reliance, and some weakness.
In its own way, this ad may also serve as a reminder that the Chinese economy
still has a lot of ground to cover if it is to compete with Western businesses.
Without intending to do so, the ad should also provoke a realization on the
part of American and European companies that, in order to stay competitive,
they must remain vigilant on those business practices that they do better than
their peers, with further emphasis on research, product development, and
consumer marketing.
However clumsy some may believe this ad campaign to be, it does reflect an
awareness at the highest levels in China that the country must pay attention
to, and work to create influence on, consumers' perceptions. As with many
developments in China, once the government has shown this to be a necessary
step, industry will soon follow.
For all the emphasis on Chinese businesses and their role in export markets,
those companies who have truly separated themselves and built their own
autonomous brands in export economies are extremely rare, few if any being
known outside the circles of business professionals or China industry watchers.
Consequently, the "China" brand, if it exists at all, exists as a
country-of-origin locator, and is not tied to any particular product or
industry. This is undoubtedly why such a concerted media campaign was deemed
necessary: if consumers know only the most global version of the "China" brand,
and relate it to the numerous and mounting stories of defective products, they
will begin to make purchasing decisions to avoid Chinese-made products.
In addition, as the recession or near-recession in America drags out, more
US-based companies looking for a marketing advantage may determine that
sourcing domestically provides a short-term benefit that outweighs the cost
savings of having product manufactured in China. The current faint cries for
"Made in the USA" branded products could begin to build, leaving the "Made in
China" brand to face not only baggage related to poor-quality products, but a
spirit of economic nationalism in the US.
From Beijing's perspective, it makes enormous sense now to reach out and try to
speak directly to American consumers, reminding them not only of the benefits
they enjoy from their Chinese-made products, but the degree to which American
companies rely on Chinese manufacturing.
At a time when the certainty of globalization's interconnectedness is being
questioned, this television advertisement argues that the world benefits from
China's productive capacity and that on balance China has earned the world's
trust. But the mere fact that Beijing feels it must launch a concerted ad
campaign to make these points suggests that many outside China feel quite the
opposite, and that its position of strength is not as firm or all-encompassing
as some might suggest.
Benjamin A Shobert is the managing director of Teleos Inc
(www.teleos-inc.com), a consulting firm dedicated to helping Asian businesses
bring innovative technologies into the North American market.
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